From its base on North 6th Street between Green Street and Fairmount Avenue, the Helping Hand Rescue Mission plays many roles in that support. As its name suggests, it is a place where the homeless can have a meal, get some new clothing and other supplies, or just take a break off the streets for an afternoon. Another important program is their youth group, offering after school tutoring and a social gathering place for kids, especially from the General Philip Kearny public school just around the corner. Helping Hand is also the home of Christ Community Bible Church.

The building at 610 N. 6th Street was constructed in 1833, originally as a Presbyterian Church and later a Hasidic synagogue, which sold it to Helping Hand in 1961. Although Helping Hand has been at this location for over 60 years, its roots go back to 1905. It describes itself as “serving our Philadelphia community through two World Wars, two pandemics,” but goes on to note that it is “now hoping to survive one new tough construction challenge.”

For decades, it has been a resource for the East Poplar neighborhood, particularly the townhomes and apartments to the west, some of which have been affordable units either via Section 8 housing vouchers or owned by the Philadelphia Housing Authority.

One of those apartment complexes, Fairmount Manor, was Helping Hand’s immediate neighbor to the west, across a decommissioned block of North Marshall Street. Its owner, Philip Pulley, partnered with PRDC Properties in 2022 to demolish the complex and replace it with townhouses and apartments, the same year another of his properties, Lindley Towers at 1220 Lindley Avenue in the Logan section, experienced a partial collapse.

That incident is only one in a long line for the developer, with others including another partial apartment building collapse in Francisville, multi-million-dollar defaults on government mortgages, and a conviction on federal voter fraud charges.

Plans for the new development included 407 residential units, surrounding Helping Hand’s building on the north and south sides with two six-story apartment buildings with commercial space, and with a series of townhouses to the west, across a re-opened Marshall Street.

A posting on PRDC Properties’ blog from March 2021 blog states, “PRDC Properties anticipates breaking ground on 650 Fairmount in the Fall of 2021. This mixed-used project at 6th & Fairmount will continue to reshape one of Philadelphia’s hottest neighborhoods, Northern Liberties.”

Today, the project is no longer listed under its “current properties,” having been sold to Accurate Builders from Lakewood, New Jersey and known as “May Fairmount LLC.” The new owners hired the same contractor, Pelco Builders of Coatesville, Pennsylvania, that PRDC had recommended. What has followed is a series of lawsuits and counter lawsuits between them, leading up to foreclosure and takeover by the bank Amzak Capital Management of Boca Raton, Florida. A new contractor for the townhouses, Camfred Construction of Bala Cynwyd, is now under contract.

The townhouses are named “Citizen Northern Liberties” according to a banner along one of the fences at the construction site. “This neighborhood used to just be called North Philly,” scoffed one neighbor who requested to remain anonymous. “Then, when urban renewal came in the ‘70s, it was changed to East Poplar. Now, the realtors want to call it Northern Liberties.” The realtor’s website describes them as “The Citizen, Philadelphia’s brand-new exclusive community of stately residences, all with access to an on-site in-ground pool.”

Amid all of this legal wrangling, the neighbors, both Helping Hands and nearby residents, have experienced unannounced street closures, water pressure problems, sidewalk removals, and other issues over the course of the past three years. Helping Hands has had to move its youth program from its dedicated space to sharing with the building’s cafeteria because the rear entrance is blocked by the construction. It used to be a safe way for the kids to exit the building and walk home without encountering traffic. The construction project has also been fined by the Department of Licenses and Inspections for not providing a safe walkway along 6th Street. “Kids are coming here to get their homework done and they have to worry about getting hit by a car,” said one youth leader from the program.

While Helping Hands had established a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) with the original developer, in retrospect Adam Bruckner, the mission’s director, believes they weren’t tough enough negotiators. “You need to have punishing language in a CBA,” he said. “With lots of ‘what ifs’ and ‘if nots’.”

On March 2, a community meeting was held for residents to share their stories and discuss ways to remedy the situation. The mix of neighbors attending, some decades-long residents from the west side of 6th Street, as well as more recent arrivals in the new construction on the east side, had similar grievances. Bruckner seemed to know them all by name.

Although various elected officials were invited, only the leader of the 14th Ward, Arthur Green, was present, and offered to be a conduit to City Council and the Mayor’s Office on their behalf. “Philadelphia–the police, City Council—is overwhelmed,” he said. “We need to be patient, but we need to have our voices heard.”

Philadelphia residents in other neighborhoods that are busy with construction have had similar conflicts, although perhaps not as drawn out as this one. “It’s been three years,” Bruckner pointed out. “And they’re about 10 percent done.”

Despite all the negative incidents that have transpired, he is holding out a glimmer of hope. “Helping Hand is contractually owed some money and construction work,” he explained. “This became impossible to collect with PRDC and Accurate, but Amzac seems online to honor the CBAs.”

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